Stepladder



Dec. 5, 1944. 1. s. BARKEY S TEPLADDER Filed May 21, 1943 Patented Dec.5, 1944 srnrmnnnn Isaac S. iBarkeyi Stou fiville, Ontario, CanadaflipplicartionMay 21, 1943, Serial No. l481944 solims. (01. 228-31)bers3. The lugs 1'2 are spacedapart and in metween these and secured tothe unders'ide f the The principal objects of this invention are toprovide a step ladder with lateral braces which may be extended toeither side "thereof or to both sides simultaneously so as to prevent"the ladder from tipping sideways and causing serious injury to theperson using the same.

A further object is to provide a simple, strong and durable constructionof inter-connected and will efiectively retain the ladder legs andbraces in their extended position andwill "readily fold so as to returnall parts to their normal position simultaneously.

r The principal feature of the invention consists in thenovelconstruction of a ladder wherein both front and rear legs of theladder are piv- 'otally connected to a top, and outwardly extensiblebraces are hinged to the underside Ofifllfi top member, the front andback members being connected intermediate of their height bylinks topplate rotor the ladder are hinges 3,

The hinges-l3 have secured thereto the laiterally extending brace legs44 which swing outwardly on the saidhi-nges midway between the legs 1and '9. The members land 9 are connected intermediate of their height bylinks I and llli braces which will be inexpensive to manufacturepivotally connected to a cross bar, and the Flaterally extensible bracesare connected to sail'i cross bar by jointed links, permitting entmovement of said braces.

In the accompanying drawing: j 1 Figure 1 is a perspective view of astep ladder constructed in accordance with this invention shown in itsfully extended position. Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view throughthe ladder shown in Figure .1 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical mid-sectional elevational view showing thelateral brace members partly foldedinwardly. v Figure 4 is a slightlyenlarged perspective detail of the hinged dlipport connections fortheupper ends of thetlegs and top of theladder.

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional detailof is portion of the leg-bracingmembers.

In the construction'herein illustrated the front leg 1, which isprovided with steps 2,, is piyota'llyl connected at its upper end to apair ofi'sheetmetall members 3 which are formed with parallel sideportions 4 and 5 spaced apart the thickness of the side rails '6 of themember I. ,These members I are joined at one end by a connecting bar I.

The side bars 8 of the rear leg member; 9 of the ladder extend betweenthe plates" 4 and 5 of the members 3 and are pivotally secured therein.The legs I and 9 are thus pivotally mounted in the sheet metal members 3and these are rigidly secured to the underside of the top plate 10 ofthe ladder by suitable screws extending through flanges H on the insideof each of themembers 3, and flange lugs I2 on the outside of themem-"independtaken on the gu s portions 22separatethereirom andsecured bypivotally connected respectively to the front leg Iandthe rearlegB. v i

The inward ends at these link members are pivotally connected .to thelaterally turned lu ends l1 ofa pair of flatbars "which alre -securedtogether and extend transversely of the ladder. The 'portionofthepaiired bars a adj-acent to the lugs 1'1 are parallel'lyspa'cedapartand short'lin-ks l 9 are pivotally secured within the jaw thus formed. lg 'Pivotally secured to the outerends of the "links l9 are links and theouter ends of the links Ell extend into slots 2| in the brace members Mand are pivotally Connected thereto bypivot pins "22 extendingtransversely through "the brace mem bers. l l

The side menibers a-rethus connected by'a tog g-le arrangement of links1'9 and 20 to the toggled links W5 and 46 connected through the doubled:

cross bar it], and whenthe legs I and 9 are swung inwardly on theirpivots in their pivot supports in the bracket members 3 carried by thetop plate orste'p of the ladder, the links 15 and-l6 swing upwardly andthe toggle links -l9 and 2 are drawn inwardly in the manner illustratedin Fig-- ure3. r

It will of course be understood that the brace legs l4 must be ofgreater length than the iegs l and 9, and these "legs "I 4 have thelower end hinges "23 onthe inside. y

Lugs 24 projectinwardlyfrom the hinged end portions 12 and a rod isconnected to each of the lugs 24 at one end and extendsupwa rdly and isconnectedto "the gle links 1'9 fand zfl. I

It will thus be seen that as the ladder is closed up and the links 15and 13B swing upwardly they carry thejtoggleglinks l9 and .20 upwardly,and

this upward movemennpulling on the 105 175. breaks the 'hinged joint 23connecting the end members 22 of thebrace members and swings theminwardly, so that the side brace members will swing clear of the floor.

When the ladder is being opened out and the :1 legs I and 9 are spreadapart, the links I5 and 16 are swung downwardly and the downward pivotjoining each of the tog-.

movement pushes the toggle links l9 and 20 outwardly and downwardly,thereby swinging the members 22 into the outward position, asillustrated in Figure 1, so that the endswill rest upon the floor.

The action of the different parts thus occurs simultaneously and theside brace members are automatically swung outward. If however it is.

side of the ladder where.the ladder is. set up close to a wall andeither side may be moved outwardly selectively, or, as previouslydescribed,

theopening of the ladder automatically throws both of the brace membersoutwardly so that the structure is braced equally on both sides and itwill be effectively. supported from tipping side-.

I ways in-either direction. Consequently a person using the ladder maydo so without fear of being upset.

A ladder constructed as described requires no special manipulation toset the side braces in position. Merely by opening it out, by spreadingthe front and back legs apart the side braces move outwardlyautomatically. So also in folding the ladder the side braces foldinwardly automatically, but if it be desired to move either of the sidebraces inwardly in order to bring the ladder close up against a wall, itis very simply accomplished in the manner described.

- The parts of the structure are very simple to manufacture and assembleand a simple, strong ladder is produced.

What I claim as my invention is: I V l. A step ladder comprisin a top,front and back legs pivotally mounted on the underside of said top,paired links connected to said front and back legs intermediate of theirheight, a cross bar arranged between and. pivotally connected to theinward ends of said paired links,

jointed links connected'to the ends of said cross bar and extendinoutwardly, braces pivotally secured to the underside of said laddertopand extending angularly downward and outwardly and having extensiblelower ends, means pivotally connecting said jointed links to said bracesintermediate of their length, and operable means connecting said jointedlinks and extensible ends. 2. A ladder comprising, a top, two pair offlanged spaced-apart members secured to the underside of said top inparallel arrangement, front and rear legs pivotally mounted between the.

parallelly spaced-apart flanged members secured to said top, bracemembers hinged to said top intermediate of the length of saidflanged'members and extending downwardly and outwardly therefrom andhaving extensible ends, toggle links connecting the front and rear legmembers intermediate of their height, and jointed links connected to theaforesaid toggle links and extending laterally and pivotally connectedto said brace members intermediate of their height and means connectingsaid extensible ends with said jointed links to move said ends outwardlysimultaneously with the outward swinging of said brace members.

3. A step ladder comprising, a top, front and rear legs pivotallyconnected to the underside of said top, braces pivotally connected tothe underside of said top intermediately between said front and rearlegsand adapted to swing laterally outward, said braces having hingedextremities adapted to swing inwardly and to form rigid braces whenswung outwardly to engage and rest outwardly, means pivotally connectingthe inl upon the floor, toggle links connecting the front and rear legmembers, toggle links connecting the aforesaid toggle links with saidbraces, and

rods pivotally connected to the hinged extensions of saidbraces and tothe toggle links secured to said brace members adapted to swing thehinged extensions inwardly upon the inward swinging of the side braces.

4. A step ladder comprising, a top, front and rear legs pivotallymounted on the underside of said top, links pivotally connected to eachof the side members of the front and rear legs intermediate of theirlength and extending inwardly toward each other, a pair of flat barssecured together and having out-turned lug ends pivotallyconnected oneto each of said links, the ends of said bars adjacent to said linksbeing spaced apart, links extending in between spaced-apart portions ofsaid paired bars and extending therefrom in right-angular relation tothe links connected to the front and rear legs, short links pivotallyconnected to the links pivoted inthe ends of said cross bar, bracespivotally secured to the underside of saidtop intermediately betweensaid front and rear legs and having slots in their inward sidesintermediate of their length to receive the outward ends of thelaterally extending links, means pivotally connecting the ends of saidlinks extending into said s'lots,

hinged extensions on the ends of said braces adapted to swing inwardly,and rods connecting said hinged extensions with the jointed laterally Abrace members intermediate of their length and extending inwardlytherefrom to permit said brace members being separately operated,"a pairof bars rigidly securedtogether having their end portions spaced apartto receive the inner ends of said toggle links and their extremitiesturned ner ends of said toggle links between the spaced apart ends ofsaid bars,- and link members pivotally connected one to each of theout-turned extremities and pivotally connected to the front and rear legmembers intermediate of their length, whereby the legs and braces arecon-' nected by toggle link mechanism which operates to raise orlower asthe legs are swung inwardly or outwardly.

ISAAC S. BARKEY.

